It was a moment to savour for senior under officer A.G. Aishwarya of Kodagu as she led the all-girls National Cadet Corps (NCC) contingent at the Republic Day parade held at Rajpath, New Delhi, on Thursday.
For the student of St. Joseph’s PU College in Madikeri, participating in the parade was a childhood dream inspired by her elder sister Ambika, who was decorated as the ‘Best Cadet’ and honoured at her institution a few years ago.
Her father Ajjinanda Ganesh, mother Monthi Ganesh and sister were in New Delhi on Thursday to witness the parade and cheer her on. Aishwarya belongs to the 19KAR Battalion and was also part of the Republic Day camp in 2015 as a junior wing cadet. She hopes this is just the beginning of an incredible journey as she is determined to join the Indian Air Force and become a fighter pilot.
Ms. Ganesh spoke to The Hindu from New Delhi soon after witnessing the parade and said the entire family was proud of Aishwarya. “There are no words to explain how proud we felt at that moment,” she said.
She recalled that Aishwarya was in class 2 when she witnessed seniors, including her sister, participate in NCC activities. She was also inspired by her uncle Major Nanjappa and other relatives in the armed forces. “She joined Bulbul while in primary school and later joined the Guides and finally the NCC when she was in class 8 and 9,” she said.
Aishwarya, who is a science student with good academic track record, has a little more than a month to prepare for her II PUC examinations, which commence in March, but she is not at all tense. “She has consistently secured distinction in all subjects despite her extracurricular activities and [she] is not tense at all,” her mother said.
Aishwarya is an accomplished skater and hockey player apart from also playing the guitar.
